Saimi Bergmann: It’s minutes to dinner, the potatoes are mashed, the rolls are browning, the turkey is resting and elderly Aunt Edna pops her head in the kitchen and asks, “Where are the sweet potatoes?” It would have to be that kind of emergency to justify serving these instant whipped potatoes. For that is their only redeeming grace -- they are ready in a flash.

This hybrid of mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes is less than the sum of its parts. (Speaking of parts, the list of additives is off-putting.) The sweetness seems forced and the texture is almost pasty.

Spatula Down

Jennifer Mastroianni: Want to be ridiculed for life? Serve Betty Crocker’s instant mashed sweet potatoes to your guests. Oh, they might not mock you to your face. But the second you turn your back, a veritable chorus of simulated barfing will begin.